My own blog, reviewing the books I have recently read, either purchased or kindly sent to me to review. All books I have received are marked as such in the blog. I am NOT Sarah Broadhurst who works for The Bookseller and Lovereading. My other review blog is http://sarah-sarahreviews.blogspot.com/

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Thursday, 22 May 2014

Thirteen weddings by Paige Toon

Last year, Bronte left Sydney for a wedding in England, where she met newly single Alex. After a night of passion they parted ways, and Bronte returned to Australia. Now working on a picture desk for a magazine in London, Bronte is about to meet her new colleague, who turns out to be all too familiar. Although awkward at first, as Alex is now engaged to the girl he was on a break from when they met, they soon become friends. But as the two get closer, and the wedding day looms, it is clear that Alex and Bronte have unfinished business...A charming bittersweet novel from the author of The Longest Holiday.

I have been waiting for Paige Toon's next release for a long time and I am happy to say that Thirteen Weddings was definitely worth the wait! This is a great summer read which will have have readers split - #TeamLachie or #TeamAlex ?

Paige's books always have great characters and Thirteen Weddings has a number of great ones: Bronte, the main character, is a magazine editor, who also has recently started a weekend job of an assistant wedding photographer. She had a one night stand at her best friend's hen night, who she saw again eighteen months later when she transferred from Australia to the English edition of the magazine for which she worked. What follows is the story of Bronte's life over the following twelve months: Alex is back with his girlfriend, now his fiancee, and then there is Lachie, a fellow Australian, who is funding his stay through both pub work and the odd gig as a wedding singer. Who will win Bronte's heart, Alex or Lachie - I know who I hoped would win it but I will not give away the ending.

I also liked many of the other characters, Polly, Bronte's friend who was getting married and whose hen party Polly met Alex at, had a great storyline. Although it was only a small storyline I think that the alcoholism was treated with respect and reminds the reader of the ease that it can creep up on people.

The two males within the story, Lachie and Alex, were very different to each other, but they were both likable in their own way. I think Lachie would be the first choice, he appeared to have a happy go lucky outlook on life and went where ever the work was whereas Alex was a hard worker, dependable and didn't want to upset anyone.

I really enjoy Paige's books and I like how characters from her back catalogue pop into new books - the books do not need to be read in order, they just appear, and their back story does not matter to the reader, but to fans it is nice for them to appear.

The story was believable and I am sure that readers will be able to identify with some, if not all, of the story. It is not only the story of Bronte's love life, but includes other characters, all with their own story, which adds extra depth to the book - something for readers to get their teeth into!

In summary, another fantastic read from Paige Toon. Perfect to add to any holiday luggage this year or to curl up with one Sunday evening!!

Thank you to the publishers, Simon and Schuster, and Net Galley for sending me the book to review.

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About Me

A mum of two children and a wife. I am an activity worker in a Children's Centre, currently run by the city council. I have recently completed a Foundation Degree and am continuing studying through Open University for a degree in Early Years Studies. My other hobbies include cross stitching, where I have model stitched for a number of designers, and also papercrafting, making mainly greetings cards.